Devotionals for Seekers. . .with Patty Levering

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In these days of fake news, bumper sticker slogans, and statements so brief they can fit into a tweet, there is not much room for truth. We have a political climate intensely divided, with little agreement about the facts regarding any particular issue or even what the problem is. Within Christian churches there is deep disagreement about scripture and its interpretation and about authority, leaving congregations who have worshiped together for decades torn and hurting.

What is the truth? What can bring us together? Propositional truth, factual truth, matters of reason have their place. They help us observe, define, describe, and categorize. They also tend to divide—either-or, it is or it isn’t.

Jesus said, “and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). This Truth (with a capital T) gives the kind of freedom that leads to a fuller life, one led in harmony with God and what God has made so. Friends (Quakers) are guided not by dogmas or creeds but by queries. One such query asks, “How does Truth prosper among you?” The query is searching out not whether the group believes in certain propositions but whether their faithfulness and practice bring them into spiritual unity (not unanimity).

Truth is a spiritual reality as real as “objective” reality, or more so, that gives meaning and life to everything. It is not something just to be thought about or recognized; it is something to be entered into. In A Language for the Inner Landscape, Brian Drayton, a scientist and a New England Friend, and his teacher William P. Taber, Jr., reflect on Truth:

“Those who enter into this Truth, this reality, come to feel a sense of the divine harmony that holds our universe together and that operates in our own minds, bodies, and human society . . . . To be in the Truth, then, means that one can—and will—live out those standards of inward peace through outward gentleness, tenderness to all creatures, and the right and just ordering of human society exemplified by the life and teachings of Jesus.”

Perhaps if we sought after Truth instead of arguing about what is true, we would find a way to come together, grounded in Love, for the wellbeing of all.

“Jesus answered, … ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18: 37-38).

There are many beautiful and powerful passages in the Bible prophesying or promising God’s full reign on earth. God will create “new heavens and a new earth.” “Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more.” “They shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.” “God will put God’s law within the people, and write it on their hearts.” “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”

Some of us know the agony of waiting more than others. A mother longs for her challenged child to be able to overcome his limitations and live a fulfilling life. But she waits in the darkness, not knowing. African-Americans wonder how long their dream of true freedom and equality will be deferred. Waiting so long for the reality of the wellbeing promised, we face a number of temptations. One is to assume that God simply does not exist, that solving the world’s problems (and ours) is all up to us. Other responses are hopelessness, despair, anger, and self-righteousness, which tend to be self-destructive. Instead how can we hold onto the beauty and comfort of these promises and find value in the waiting and darkness?

I believe that living in hope brings a better world than living in hopelessness. I think we have glimpses or moments of knowing inwardly that the promises are true. And our lives lived in the glow of those help us live more in the promises, making the world better.

I think our logical thinking does not get us to the world we long for, but rather tends to turn us in wrong directions and selfish pursuits. I think, rather, that we are spiritually formed in the darkness. Like a seed. Spiritual growth comes in letting go and loving God inwardly and outwardly. The waiting we do provides the time and conditions for this growth in grace and truth, allowing us to peer into the darkness and see the Light that is always there. In the darkness we learn our true proportion; we cannot push God around.